1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a war games land mine, and, more particularly, to a war games land mine which uses the release of a gas under pressure to cause the discharge of a marking agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
War games land mines are currently available for use in simulated war games. Such war games land mines typically incorporate some form of a marking agent such as paint or water. Several of these war games land mines generate the force needed to disperse the marking agent by piercing of a CO2 cartridge, with the CO2 directly impacting upon the marking agent. Such a system presents a problem in that the marking agent is not fluidly separated from the actuator/piercing mechanism, allowing the marking agent to potentially contaminate this mechanism and other areas of the land mine.
The present invention relates to a war games land mine which uses a piston within a cylinder arrangement to discharge the marking agent through a discharge nozzle and to thereby fluidly separate the marking agent from the actuator/piercing mechanism and prevent contamination of other portions of the war games land mine.
The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a war games land mine including a fluid supply mechanism, a housing and a sealing device. The fluid supply mechanism is configured for containing and selectively releasing therefrom a pressurized fluid. The housing has an interior surface, a first orifice and a second orifice, the first orifice of the housing being fluidly coupled with the fluid supply mechanism. The sealing device is movably mounted within the housing, the sealing device having a first side and a second side. The first side and the interior surface of the housing define a first chamber therebetween, the first chamber being fluidly coupled with the first orifice. The second side and the interior surface defining a second chamber therebetween, the second chamber being fluidly coupled with the second orifice and configured for being substantially filled with a marking agent. The sealing device is configured for being moved within the housing upon release of the pressurized fluid from the fluid supply mechanism to thereby eject the marking agent through the second orifice.
An advantage of the present invention is that the marking agent is maintained fluidly separate from the gas-source module, including the trigger assembly, preventing the contamination thereof with the marking agent.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the impact of pressurized fluid upon the piston promotes steady and even dispersal of the marking agent through the nozzle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that both refillable and disposable marking agent containment systems are available for use therewith.
An additional advantage of the present invention is that the gas-source module can be adapted to use various sources of pressurized gas, including gas cartridges, large bottles of gas and air compression systems, or other pressurized fluid.
A yet another advantage is that any of a variety of marking agent release activators may be used, including, but not necessarily limited to, a trip wire, a motion sensor, a proximity sensor, a radio frequency receiver/transceiver, a timer and an electronic controller.
A further advantage is that the device can be provided with a manual reset device for each of the piercer driver/hammer and the piston.
A yet further advantage is that any of a variety of marking agents may be used including, but not necessarily limited to, paint and water.